Don't laugh. But weird fortune is coming my way. The world lacrosse championships are coming to Netanya, Israel. I have a choice at this stage as to whether or not I want to referee. I won't go blue or green zone until next time, but I'm qualified to ref. And yes, cunts, I'm that good.What would you do with 2-3 weeks in the region?

I never have more than three or four days in Israel at a time, business in Herzliya mostly and Haifa to check equipment. But I stay in TA and take the train up and down. How much free time will you have?

I'd use the opportunity to go to Petra. So far, I passed up once chance for that (becauase it would have required a monstrous number of hours of travel each way, from the Sinai, for less than a day there) but am determined to get there some day.

Citizen Baba wrote:Will all the players be from Maryland, New Jersey, and New York?

New Jersey never belonged in that sentence. I suspect team Israel will be a lot of Long Islanders. Scotland and Ireland will be plastics. England will field their own team. Ditto that Australia. Canada. Iroquois nation. Over 60 countries involved now. It needs 75 for an Olympic bid. And no, most of the players won't be coming from NY or the New York-lite of lacrosse, Maryland.

VinnyD wrote:CB, there are plenty of good lacrosse players in Quebec and Ontario. North Carolina too (you may have heard something of the Duke lacrosse team a few years ago). Wherever there were Haudenosaunee.

Most of those teams are fielded by northern players. You are correct about Canada, but it extends beyond those provinces.

Scrubb wrote:I'd use the opportunity to go to Petra. So far, I passed up once chance for that (becauase it would have required a monstrous number of hours of travel each way, from the Sinai, for less than a day there) but am determined to get there some day.

I've always wanted to go there as well. Does anyone have ideas about Beirut?

I really liked northern Israel, the Galilee region. Tel Aviv is a cool city, reminded me of San Diego or Barcelona in terms of climate and location and the lifestyle that develops because of that. Jerusalem is well Jerusalem. I'd also recommend getting to Jordan, time permitting. Not just Petra but also Wadi Rum. I took a bus down to Eilat and crossed the border to Aqaba there. It was a breeze, although the time of day, late evening, might have helped. Coming back through the Hussein/Allenby Bridge crossing was long and tedious. Floating in the Dead Sea was a good experience. You can do that on either side.

I should have a few weeks. The tournament last about 10 days, but the Australian contingent will be there a few weeks at the very least to get over the jet lag. Petra and Beirut sound amazing as well as the local cities. I've been waiting a long time for this one.

Is the difficulty going to be the scrutiny I get on the Israeli end? Will 2 passports help? Will the idea that the place will be flooded with people like me from all over the world help?

If you do visit Lebanon, do it first, before Israel would be the obvious/least hassly way to do it. Crossing borders into/out of Israel will be easily identifiable to Lebanese officials, even without the Israeli stamp.

Traveling between Jordan/Israel - I did it via Aqaba/Eilat. It was easy and quick, transport/movement-wise, however, possibly as I'd come overland through Syria (2009), I did get asked questions about Syria, where I'd been/why/what I did there/did I have relatives. More penetrating questions about what I was doing in Israel, previous visits, itinerary there, relatives/friends, etc.. Took about 5 minutes.

Though, if you do have a second passport, it might make a difference. Don't know how that would work, not having a second one myself.

Can’t you fly Turkish? They always seem to be doing promotions, and they fly nice planes. A stopover in Istanbul would be worth the while (there are free tours from the airport for layovers as short as five hours, I think). Not so much Tbilisi. I mean, Tbilisi is fine, but...I don’t know. I wasn’t crazy about it. The food is good, though, and cheap. And Georgian wine is delicious. Okay maybe go there. You’ll meets lots of Israelis there. They were like the only other nationality I met when I went to Georgia last year.

Tel Aviv is super expensive and apart from Jaffa, not really worth it. Jerusalem was beautiful- wish I had stayed there instead. Time permitting, you must see Petra and spend a night in Wadi Rum. I spent three nights in Petra and would have been happy with more as I love trekking and there were lots of places to wander.

I've always wanted to go there as well. Does anyone have ideas about Beirut?

Beirut is outstanding. You'll need to scrub your bags and person of any trace of Israel. The Lebanese are very serious about this - I got held up flying into Beirut for at least a half hour when I went. The first immigration officer's superior greeted me with ma schlomcha (Hebrew for 'how are you?), to which I shrugged. Eventually they let me in.